The Adder's Fangs
by Phoenix Ray
Summary: As clan Star Adder is seizing power in the clan home space, an inner sphere pilot begins his search for his lost brother. What he doesnt know is that his life and the will of the clans are intertwined.


**MechWarrior and Battletech and everything like that stuff belongs to Topps. Except my characters, those are mine.**

**Well here we go with something a little different from me. This is the first MechWarrior fic I've ever written so I'm hoping for a good first impression.**

**Xxxxxxx**

The boy could feel the grass under his bare feet sway with the wind as he continued his trek through the Huntress underbrush. He felt as if he should be honored to be on such ground as this, where so many warriors fell even in defeat, where Smoke Jaguar lost everything. Yet he didn't feel that way. Instead he felt remorse that a Clan had been broken here and so many lives lost in the name of vengeance. Such ideas were contrary to clan belief and he made sure that he never voiced his thoughts in times like these. He was pretty smart for a child.

He was not alone; a guard had been sent with him to make sure that he didn't wander too far or that he wasn't spotted. The boy knew him well; he was an old friend of his fathers and had befriended him since as far back as he could remember. But he knew they had to be careful. After all, his very existence would be considered an offence to the other Clans and the Inner Sphere lackeys would just shoot them for being out of their assigned land.

The boy sighed as he heard his companion approach, the guard was a Solahma who had seen better days but was sympathetic to the boy and his father. He was tall and fair skinned with an unusual amount of facial hair for a Clan Warrior. Of course Clan Star Adder made many allowances that the other clans and even the council disapproved of. Not that they could do anything about it. Speech was the most obvious of these allowances; it was a strange combination of typical Clan speech and Inner Sphere slang. As the most powerful Crusader Clan in home space, their ideas carried some weight, even if they were controversial.

The boy looked up and smiled. "Decided not to leave me here to die Devon?"

Devon scoffed at the child. "And face the wrath of the Khan? Neg. I value my honor thank you very much."

The boy raised his eyebrows sharply. "And do you think my father has lost his honor by having me?"

"Neg. That man has earned his place as Khan and rightfully so. I just hope that his concern for you does not supersede his concern for the Clan."

"Understandable."

The boy named Dagon Truscott returned his gaze to the endless flora and fauna of Huntress. He was an average looking ten-year-old, somewhat tall but not terribly strong or athletic. Or about as un-athletic as a Clan warrior to-be can be. Still, his mind was as sharp as a knife and he made sure everyone knew it, much to the chagrin of his betters. His black hair waved in the wind as he moved forward into the underbrush, his light skin taking in the suns bright rays.

As beautiful as huntress could be in certain parts of the day, he was not here to sight-see. He had been searching for some time for a carcass of the past to examine, something to make him understand the sacrifice made to stop the Inner Sphere animals in their relentless counter attack.

He has spotted his objective some time ago on a hill earlier; he had simply to make the journey. As he approached the broken remains of a _Mad Dog,_ he climbed onto one of its legs that lay sprawled out on the ground. Dagon turned and spoke to Devon with a concerned voice.

"What was it like…to be here when the Inner Sphere came?"

"In one word? Glorious."

"I can imagine."

"They came with complete surprise, with the exception of a few overzealous fools who overstepped their boundaries. It was truly brilliant to catch the Jaguar's off guard as they did."

"Our clan was here when they attacked?"

"In small numbers and we didn't own the land here that we do now. We were mostly ignored; what a shame. I would have loved to be a part of the slaughter…after the freebirths took care of the Jaguars of course. Our clan had no love for them."

"Interesting."

Dagon stood up and moved towards the cockpit, clambering over the charred carcass of the torso as he did. As he jumped down and stood in front of the center torso he called out to his companion.

"Devon! Come and see!"

Without waiting, the young clanner looked inside the open cockpit. He was thankful that there was no skeleton awaiting him, the actual cockpit was gone, the pilot apparently having ejected. He took a step inside and sat down on the floor of where the cockpit had been. The noise of the outside world echoed inside, the chirping of the birds and the swaying of trees in the wind.

"I can almost guarantee this one was not a Jaguar."

Dagon turned his gaze back to the open slit he had crawled through. Devon peeked his head through and spoke again.

"This pilot ejected, most of the Jaguars decided to die in combat rather than face the shame of their clan's destruction."

"You speak of it as if it is no concern…like you don't care."

"Neg. I do not."

"Why?"

"They are not my clan."

"But they _are_ of Kerensky's chosen, should we not support them as we would our own?"

"That is the opinion of some."

"Father says all clans should help each other in times of need."

"Your father is an optimist."

"You're impossible."

"Indeed."

Dagon shook his head and motioned for Devon to move so he could climb out. Devon helped him out as the bright rays of the sun greeted Dagon once again. The boy sighed and placed his hands in his pockets as he set foot on the damp earth of Huntress's surface.

"I apologize." Devon said suddenly.

Dagon turned his head towards him and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"I meant no disrespect towards your father or you. I am completely devoted to the clan and your father's leadership…and I'm still rather fond of you. Unfortunately."

"Ha, I wouldn't worry about dealing with me much longer. If father has his way then I will be assigned somewhere before long. Hopefully somewhere where I can kill Blood Spirits."

"Clan Blood Spirit is nothing compared to the strength of Star Adder." Devon said with a nasty spit. "They are vermin, nothing else."

Dagon nodded and turned his gaze to the midday sun. The sun had always fascinated him; it always shone brightly and was constant. It reminded him of the strength of the clans, who like the sun were immovable and ever-present in the affairs of the galaxy. Yet he felt as if something was missing from the clans, something he couldn't quite place a finger on. He had felt this way as soon as he was old enough to understand his own feelings. And he was determined to find the cause of it.

**Xxxxxxx**

**Well, this is the beginning to something bigger than which I usually write about. To those concerned if I will continue Hate's End, don't worry. It will be finished, I'm just lacking inspiration at the moment. It's not for lack of ideas it's just lack of want to write about it. Eh. You know how it is.**


End file.
